Plum Danger
by Lil Padfoot17
Summary: Stephanie’s just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie’s bounty hunting days be over? Warning: It's got a sad start, but NOT a Babe fic.
1. Chapter 1

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_**Warning:** It's not a happy story, at least not the start of it, but without giving away too much, it will have a happy ending. It is definitely not a Babe fic. The only man I can see Stephanie with is Joe, so don't worry about her ending up with Ranger. Give it a chance and you'll see that there's more than meets the eye with this one._

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter One_

Phone calls in the early hours of the morning never bring good news. So when I was dragged out of sleep by the ringing of my phone at three in the morning, I knew it was a bad sign.

I picked up the phone and when I heard Eddie Gazarra, one of Trenton's police officers's voice, my stomach leapt into my throat.

"Eddie, why are you calling so late?" I asked, knowing that whatever he had to tell me wasn't good.

"You're at your apartment, right?" he asked, and I blinked in confusion. He'd just called my landline phone, in my apartment.

"You just called my apartment, Eddie. What's going on?" Something was really wrong, I just knew it.

"Just stay at your apartment. I'll be right over," he said.

"Tell me what's going on," I demanded, while feeling my stomach coil.

"Just stay there," he said and I heard the 'click' as he disconnect.

I pulled on my bathrobe over the tank top and shorts I'd gone to bed in and went to the living room to pace, feeling panic rising up in me. Or maybe that was just the bile rising in my throat. I felt like I was going to be sick at any moment.

I heard a knock on the door and almost ran to open it. Eddie was standing there, in full dress uniform, with his hat held in his hands, and looking more solemn than I'd ever seen.

"Eddie?" I asked and swallowed the lump in my throat.

"You should probably sit down, Steph," said Eddie, turning his hat over in his hands and I obeyed without question. He sat down on the couch next to me and looked down at his hands.

"What's going on?" I managed to choke out.

"It's about Joe, Steph," he started. "He's been in an accident."

"I want to see him," I said immediately and jumped up. I needed clothes on. Where were my shoes and purse? I put them down somewhere when I'd come back to my apartment. Where were they? Eddie took my hand and pulled me back to the couch.

"He didn't make it. I'm sorry…"

I couldn't hear anything else Eddie said over the rushing in my ears. The room started spinning and I could feel Eddie gently pushing my head between my knees.

"It's not true, it's not," I mumbled softly. "It can't be…"

Joe wasn't dead. We were supposed to go to my parents' for dinner Friday night. We'd made plans. Any minute now, he'd call and tell me it was all a sick joke, and I'd drive to his house to smack him for making me think he was dead.

I sat back up and shook my head. "You're lying. This is all some stupid joke, isn't it?"

"Steph, I'm really sorry. Joe is gone," said Eddie quietly. "I need to get back to the station and start filling out paperwork. Do you need me to call someone?"

I shook my head. He was lying. All I had to do was keep telling myself it wasn't true. I'd go back to sleep and when I woke up, this would all be a bad dream.

When Eddie was gone, all I felt was emptiness. I stumbled back into my bedroom, determined to go back to sleep. When I woke up, everything would be back to normal. My phone was still lying on my bed, and I picked it up and stared at it for a moment, then I dialed Joe's home number. It rang and rang, until finally the answering machine picked up.

"Joe, call me back, _please_," was the message I left, then I promptly dialed his cell phone. It went straight to voicemail, and I left a similar message there, then I collapsed onto the bed. I just needed to sleep and it would all be okay in the morning.

When I woke up in the morning, I felt better… at least, until I remember what had happened. Joe… I stumbled out of bed and went to check the answering machine. My heart sank when I finished checking the messages. There were messages there from nearly everyone I knew, asking me how I was. I deleted every one of them. Maybe he'd called my cell phone. But there was no message from Joe. The phone slipped out of my hand and landed with a 'thud' on the floor.

Hot tears slid down my face. Joe was gone and he wasn't going to call me ever again. And then I ran to the bathroom to throw up what little was in my stomach.

I don't know how long I stayed slumped against the toilet, fighting dry heaves before I finally dropped, exhausted, to the cold tile of the bathroom floor. When I woke up, there was knocking on my door. I didn't have the strength to get up and find out who it was. If I didn't answer, they would go away eventually. If it wasn't Joe knocking, then I didn't care. I closed my eyes against a fresh wave of tears. Without Joe, life wasn't worth going on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter Two_

When I woke up again, my back and neck were aching from sleeping on the floor. Using the counter, I dragged myself up and back to my bedroom and fell on my bed. I grabbed a pillow and curled up against it, hugging it tightly to my chest. Why did he have to leave me? Tears slid down my face, soaking the pillow, and I let myself cry into the pillow.

The next time I awoke, it was to someone calling my name softly.

"Stephanie?"

I ignored the voice. I wanted to be left alone.

"Babe?"

It was Ranger. "Go away," I told him.

"I can't do that," he said softly.

"Get out of my room," I demanded.

"You can't hide in here forever, Steph. Everyone's worried about you," said Ranger.

"I don't care," I said, curling up tighter. "Please leave me alone."

Ranger quietly said, "Babe," and I heard the soft sound of footsteps, then the door to my bedroom being shut.

I stayed curled up for I don't know how long, trying not to think of Joe, but failing. I fell into a cycle of sobbing, passing out from crying, dreaming about Joe, waking up again and doing it all over again. I couldn't stop and I couldn't make myself get up and want to live again. All I did was sleep and cry. That was all it seemed possible to do. I couldn't possibly live without Joe.

My phones seemed to ring incessantly, at least the landline did. My cell phone eventually silenced and the battery had probably died again. I thought I heard faint knocking on my door sometimes and sometimes I thought it was my imagination. It was hard to tell which was reality, when my mind seemed constantly fogged by exhaustion and I couldn't stop thinking of Joe.

_I felt a hand stroke my hair gently and then the bed beside me sank slightly. _

"_Steph? You need to get up, please," I heard a voice say softly. _

"_No," I mumbled, trying to roll away, but I found I didn't have the strength to move._

"_Please, Steph. You can't waste your life away like this."_

"_No." I just wanted to be with Joe, and he wasn't in my life anymore. It wasn't worth fighting anymore. _

_I closed my eyes and let myself drift away from the voice_.

When I woke up next, it was to the beeping of my alarm clock. But I hadn't set my alarm clock and those rhythmic beeps didn't sound anything like the buzzing sound it usually made.

I slowly opened my eyes to the sterile white of a hospital room. The beeping was coming from a machine by my side. Wires were leading from it and attached to me and sticking out of my left hand was an IV. I groaned softly and heard movement on my right side.

"How are you feeling, Steph?"

I slowly turned my aching head and immediately narrowed my eyes. Ranger.

"I--" I started, then coughed dryly. My mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls.

"Here," said Ranger, offering a plastic cup with a straw sticking from it. I tried to take the cup, but my hand refused to lift itself off the bed, so I reluctantly settled for Ranger holding the cup while I drank.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," I growled.

"I wasn't going to leave you alone like that," said Ranger. "You could have died."

"At least then I'd be with Joe," I shot back.

"Stephanie, you can't stop living your life because Joe isn't a part of it anymore. You have to keep living, because that's what he would want," said Ranger quietly.

"How would you know that? You barely even know him," I said. I knew he was right, that Joe wouldn't want me to die for him, not like that, but part of me couldn't stop fighting Ranger. The part of me that had died with Joe and wanted the rest of me to too.

"I know that he loved you very much and he would rather you be alive than dead," said Ranger.

I turned my head away from Ranger and felt hot tears prickle my eyelids, blurring my vision. I didn't have the strength to fight him anymore. I felt a warm hand cover mine, but I couldn't pull away.

"Just rest, Babe. Everything's going to be okay," Ranger said quietly.

I wanted to call him a liar, scream in his face that nothing was going to be okay, but my eyes were closing and I couldn't fight them open.

When I woke up, I knew he was still there. Well, he couldn't make me do anything, so I just laid there with my eyes closed.

"I know you're awake," he said. "Don't do this to yourself."

I continued to lay as I was. I wasn't interested in anything he had to say. I was more interested in thinking how fucked up my life had gotten. It seemed like I had barely gotten to know happiness before it had gotten ripped away from me. Joe and I were happy, happier than we'd ever been. He'd finally realized that I wasn't going to give up being a bounty hunter and that as long as he was there to back me up, it would be okay. I hadn't rolled in garbage or been shot at in weeks and I actually thought I was getting better at bringing in skips. And I couldn't forget that Joe had proposed to me a week ago. It was probably longer than that now, but the memory of the beautiful engagement ring he'd gotten me that was now laying on my nightstand brought tears to my eyes again. Everything had been destroyed and Joe had left me here to pick up the pieces. Nothing would be the same ever again. I swallowed hard against the sobs that threatened to escape and I felt Ranger's hand squeeze mine.

"It'll be okay, Babe," he said and that was all it took to release the flood of tears. I could feel the bed being raised up and Ranger hesitated by my side for a moment before reaching down and hugging me. I cried until I was out of tears and Ranger's shirt was soaked. I was still shaking and trying to get my breath back when Ranger's cell phone rang. He talked for a minute, then flipped the phone shut and turned to me.

"I need to take care of this right now, but I won't be gone long. Tank will be outside if you need him," said Ranger and with one more squeeze of my hand, he was gone. He was out the door before I had a chance to process that Tank was going to be outside my room. Why did I need a guard? He could just be there to fend off well-wishers, but I had a strong feeling that wasn't why. He'd left his right-hand man to do a job that one of his newer employees would be just as capable at doing. Why?

"Tank!" I called out. He was by my side in an instant, his head turned towards me, but his eyes searching the entire room, confirming my suspicions.

"Why are you here?" I asked. I didn't think he'd tell me, but it was worth a try.

"Ranger's orders," said Tank.

"But why?" Ranger had to have a reason to order Tank to watch me.

"You should probably be asking Ranger that question," he said.

"You know, though," I said simply.

"I think Ranger wants to tell you himself," said Tank. "I'll be outside if you need me."

And just like that, he was back outside and the door closed. Something was going on, and I didn't think I was going to like it. If Ranger wanted me guarded, then he had to have a good reason for it. And I was going to find out, just as soon as Ranger got back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Author's Note_: Special thanks to Alfonsina.d, my first reviewer! It's going to be sad for a while, I think. I just killed my second favorite character, so I pretty much threw all I could into it while I was writing. To everyone else, please review! It's really encouraging to hear from my readers and it keeps the muses happy.

_Chapter 3_

Ranger came back in as I was beginning to drift off to sleep again, but the sound of the door closing behind him instantly woke me back up.

"What's going on, Ranger?" I demanded to know.

"I can't tell you here. It's not safe," said Ranger.

"Not safe? I'm perfectly safe. I haven't had a stalker in months. I haven't gotten any threatening emails or phone calls. Nothing," I said, watching Ranger intently. From the way he avoided my gaze, I knew something was up.

"I haven't gotten any messages, have I?" I asked hesitantly. Ranger didn't answer, so I tried again. "Have I?"

"I really can't answer that here," said Ranger. "I think it would be best for you to come back to Rangeman with me and stay in one of the studio apartments. It'll be safe for you there. The doctor will probably let you leave today if you agree to take care of yourself."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't need protecting. I hadn't done anything to make someone want to come after me, and as far as I knew, all my stalkers were still in jail. "I'm perfectly safe," I said.

"Will you come back with me to Rangeman?" asked Ranger.

"Sure, whatever," I said. Better there than stuck in the hospital where I would be forced to eat and who knew what else.

"I'll go see how much longer they want to keep you. I won't be long," said Ranger and left again.

I didn't have to wait long. Ranger was back in fifteen minutes and carrying a small black duffel bag.

"The release papers have already been signed. I had Lester get you some things from your apartment and Rex and he brought over a change of clothes for you," said Ranger, holding out the duffel bag. "I'm under orders from the doctor to make sure you take care of yourself."

I shrugged noncommittally. Ranger couldn't make me do anything, well, besides possibly stay in his Rangeman building, but he hadn't done so well with that in the past.

"Has someone been taking care of Rex?" I asked, avoiding Ranger's orders from the doctor.

"Your sister's been stopping by every day to check on things," said Ranger.

Thinking about Rex also made me think about Bob, the dog that Joe and I had shared. He was a very big, very hairy orange dog and believed to be mostly Golden Retriever.

I swallowed hard and tried to keep my voice steady as I asked, "Is someone taking care of Bob?"

"Mooch Morelli has been going over once a day to feed and walk him," said Ranger.

"He doesn't like being left alone," I said quietly. "He'll howl and eat everything he can find." Sounded a lot like me, minus the eating everything part. I didn't want to eat anything. Even a doughnut couldn't tempt me now.

"We can go get him and take him back to Rangeman as well," said Ranger. "I'll go let Lester know while you change."

When the door was closed behind Ranger, I dropped the duffel bag on the bed and slowly got off the bed. I had to grab for the handrail as the room spun slightly. When the feeling had passed enough for me to let go of the bed, I shed the thin hospital gown I'd been wearing and opened the duffel bag. I couldn't even manage a grin at the thought of Lester and who knows who else going to through my underwear drawer and picking out clothes for me. I pulled off the underwear I'd had on and replaced it with the black underwear and bra that was in the duffel bag after a quick inspection to see if this underwear had had Rangeman embroidered on it. It didn't and neither did the rest of the clothing that was in the duffel bag, although the t-shirt and sweatpants that had been chosen were black as well. The only thing that wasn't black were my sneakers. I stuck my feet in them and leaned against the bed, waiting for Ranger's return.

The door opened slowly and I let Ranger know I was dressed. He was pulling a wheelchair behind him and I shook my head.

"I'm not riding in that," I protested.

"Doctor's orders," said Ranger. "And besides, you haven't been out of bed in days. You're not going to be able to do much until you get your strength up again."

I gave in and sat in the wheelchair. Ranger wasn't really going to push me, though, was he?

"Yes, I'm going to push you," said Ranger. It was almost as though he could read my mind. At any other time, that kind of thought would be funny, but I just couldn't bring myself to laugh.

There was a Rangeman SUV parked outside the hospital exit. It was shiny black and new-looking. Ranger had a seemingly limitless supply of new black cars at his disposal. I'd destroyed several of them in the past and he didn't seem to care, as long as I was safe. Ranger had a habit of trying to protect me, but somehow, I always ended up in some sort of trouble. Trouble always seemed to find me, and even now, when I hadn't even done anything, it seemed there was more trouble in store for me.

I climbed into the SUV on my own, ignoring Ranger's proffered hand. There was complete silence the whole way to Slater Street, and to the house that Joe had inherited from his Aunt Rose. I heard a choking sound as we pulled up to the house and realized that it had come from me.

"Babe," said Ranger quietly. "It's going to be okay."

"No it's not," I choked out and unbuckled my seat belt so I could hunch over and hide my tears from Ranger. We sat there for a while, until I managed to fight to regain control over myself. I sat up, my shoulders still shaking slightly.

"Take as much time as you need," said Ranger.

"I-I don't have my k-keys," I said, but Ranger handed me my shoulder bag. The keys were in there somewhere. The last I remembered, I'd put them in there. I dug through the bag, but I couldn't find the keys anywhere.

"They're not here. I left them in here, I know I did. Bob's in there, all alone and I bet he hasn't been walked today or anything and he probably ate another couch cushion and…" I couldn't stop. It was like my brain was spitting out whatever it was thinking and I had no control over it at all.

"Breathe, Steph. It's okay, I know where there's another key," said Ranger. "Bob's fine. We're going to get him and go back to Rangeman, okay?"

I nodded as I swallowed hard and took deep breaths. When I was sure I could breathe again, I dropped my shoulder bag to the floor of the SUV and let myself out. I had to focus on walking up the sidewalk and up to the small porch. Ranger stepped around me and let us in with a key he had produced from somewhere. I almost couldn't bring myself to step into the house, but Ranger took my elbow and led me in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Thanks for the reviews!

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 4_

For once, Bob didn't run to the door the minute it was opened. Instead, we found him laying next to the couch, his head on his paws. There was a chewed up sneaker laying by him that I recognized as belonging to Joe. Bob lifted his head to look at me and whined softly.

"It's okay, Bob," I said quietly, dropping to my knees and rubbing his head. "I'm here now."

I left my hand on Bob's head and looked around. Something felt off about the room. It looked the same as it had the last time I'd been there, but somehow different. I just couldn't put my finger on it. Ranger knelt beside me and looked at Bob for a minute, then lifted Bob's head with one hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked. Ranger didn't answer. He stood up and handed me a gun.

"Stay here. I'll be right back."

I didn't want to stay there. I wanted to know what was going on and why I had a funny feeling in my stomach that wouldn't go away. I shoved the gun in the waistband of my pants and slowly followed Ranger. I didn't get any farther than the kitchen. As curious as I was, I just didn't have the energy to follow Ranger farther, let alone upstairs. And being in this house was bringing up memories that I'd rather not think about.

"Steph? Are you okay?"

Ranger came over to where I was now leaning against the kitchen counter.

"I'm fine, just tired," I said and let my eyes fall shut for a second. The next thing I knew, I was back on the couch in the living room, blinking in bewilderment.

"Will you be able to walk to the car?" asked Ranger.

"I think so," I said.

"Good. Keep your gun ready, I'm going to have to carry Bob," said Ranger.

I got up and Ranger handed me the gun again. He picked up Bob, who hadn't moved from where we'd first found him and headed for the door.

Once we were all settled in the SUV, I asked, "Is Bob okay?"

"Someone hit him with a tranquilizer dart. He'll be fine, he just needs some time to recover. Whoever did it also searched the house," said Ranger.

"Why would someone search Joe's house?" I asked in confusion.

"They were looking for something."

Well, obviously. That didn't answer my question.

"What were they looking for?" I asked.

Ranger glanced over at me. "What do you know about the case Morelli was working on?" he asked.

I shrugged. He might have mentioned it or not. I didn't usually pay attention to his cases unless they were somehow mixed up with my FTAs.

"We don't know much yet, but he seems to have been working on a very important investigation and he was very close to making a break in it. There's a chance that he was killed to keep him from finding the rest of what he needed to solve the case. What we have been able to get from the Trenton PD is that some evidence has been going missing lately. Drugs, guns, some money. It seems that someone has been stealing small amounts of things from different cases' evidence, enough to add up to a lot of money for whoever is behind it. What we don't know is who is behind it. It could be one or more cops or someone completely on the outside," said Ranger, glancing over at me again. "Your apartment was broken into after we took you to the hospital. The only thing missing seems to be your keys, which were apparently used to break into Morelli's house and search that too. Morelli must have taken something they want back, but no one knows what it is. Whoever is behind the break-ins might think that you have what they want. Until we know more, I don't think your apartment is safe."

"I just want to go home. I don't have anything that they could want." I sighed. I didn't have anything that related to any of Joe's cases. I would be perfectly safe at my apartment.

"You never know, Steph. Morelli could have hid whatever it is at your apartment. And even if you don't have it, that's not going to stop them from thinking you might," said Ranger.

"Joe wouldn't do that. He'd have better places to hide evidence than at my apartment," I said.

"It's better to be safe than sorry," said Ranger. "It'll be best for you to stay at Rangeman, at least until we know more."

I sighed again. I knew I didn't have the strength to escape from Ranger. However, when we were in the building, I could probably find a way to get out.

"Fine," I said, even though I knew there had been no choice in the first place.

Bob was looking livelier by the time we got to the Rangeman building, but Ranger carried him over to the elevator while I willed my feet to follow. Inside, I leaned my head on the elevator and waited for it to go up to the fourth floor, where the studio apartments were located.

Ranger led me to a door in the hallway and handed me a key fob.

"This will let you into your apartment. If you need me, it'll let you into my apartment as well. If you need something to do, you can come up to the control room and run some searches. Don't leave the building unless you have one of my men with you. Don't hesitate to get a hold of me if you need anything at all."

"What about Bob?" I asked.

"Ella's gotten the necessary supplies for him, and I'm sure one of my men will volunteer to walk him."

_Volunteer?_ Yeah, right. More like whoever drew the short straw. I opened the door and Ranger let Bob down. I went to follow him inside, but Ranger laid his hand on my shoulder.

"Steph, I mean it. If you need anything at all."

I shrugged his hand off and went inside. I could take care of myself. I locked the door behind me even though I knew it wouldn't stop Ranger. If he wanted to come in he'd find a way… and he probably had keys to every room in the building.

I dropped my bag and keys on the coffee table. Rex was sitting on a counter in the kitchenette and since none of my other belongings were sitting out, they either hadn't been brought up yet or Ella had put them away. Rex was here, so I guessed the latter. I kicked off my shoes and laid down on the bed. I curled up and felt the bed dip slightly as Bob climbed up to join me.

"Guess it's just the two of us now, Bob," I said, petting Bob and blinking back tears. We laid there like that for a while, until Bob got up and started scratching at the door. I groaned and dragged myself into a sitting position. I didn't want to get up, but Bob needed to go outside. I really didn't want Bob pooping in the apartment.

I grabbed my key and looked around for a leash. I found a brand-new one hanging on a hook by the door. The hook was a new addition since the last time I'd stayed in the apartment. I clipped the leash to Bob and headed out to the elevator.

I peeked into the control room when the elevator dropped me off at the fifth floor. Tank, Lester, and Hal were there, and so was Ranger. Ranger turned around without me saying a word.

"How's Bob doing?" he asked.

"Better. He needs to go out, though," I said. Without being asked, Lester came over and took Bob's leash from me. Bob promptly stuck his head in Lester's crotch. He was getting much closer to his usual self then. All that was left was him jumping on people and eating whatever he could find.

"I'll have him back in a bit," said Lester and left before I could warn him not to let Bob eat anything he shouldn't. I slouched into a chair to wait for him to get back.

"Everything okay?" asked Ranger.

"Just fine," I said. This would be fun. I'd have to come down here and be subject to being interrogated by Ranger at least twice a day.

Lester took longer than I thought to get back with Bob. He looked kind of guilty as he followed Bob into the control room. I sighed.

"What did he eat now?"

"A tennis ball," said Lester.

"He's eaten worse," I said. "He'll probably throw it back up soon."

Right on cue, Bob made some gagging noises, and then he spit out a greenish blob that used to be a tennis ball surrounded by half-digested grass. Lester grimaced and I took Bob's leash from him.

"I'll just… um… go now," I said and took off for the elevator.


	5. Chapter 5

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Thanks for the reviews!

_Susiee_: I can definitely tell you it's not going to be a Babefic. More than that I cannot say...

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 5_

"Bad Bob," I said as I led Bob back into my apartment. "No more eating things that aren't food. You're going to make yourself sick." I took the leash off of him and hung it back up by the door. I rummaged through the kitchenette, ignoring real food, until I found a new bag of dog crunchies in a cupboard below the sink and gave Bob some. "Here's some real food. Don't eat my apartment. Ranger wouldn't like that."

I dropped my keys on the coffee table and circled around slowly. What was I supposed to do? I really didn't want food. I doubted there was anything on the television that I wanted to watch. My laptop was sitting on the desk. I could check my email, I supposed.

I sat at the desk and powered up my laptop. After deleting all the penis enlargement ads and "free" stuff offers, I only had a few emails left. Most people contacted me on my cell phone now.

There was one with unknown sender in the from field that had been sent today. I was going to delete it, but I had a funny feeling in my stomach that I didn't think was from lack of food. I opened the email and frowned.

_Did you like the present I left for you?_

That was all it said. What present? I moved the mouse to delete the email, but stopped. It could just be another stalker fucking with me, but I had a strange feeling that this was related to Joe's case. If Ranger was right, then I probably did have a new stalker. And Ranger was usually right. I sighed and went to get my cell phone. I'd have to show Ranger the email. He might be able to figure out who had sent it and if it had any importance to the case.

Before I even had a chance to flip the phone open, I heard a knock on my door. I dropped the phone back into my bag and went to answer it.

"Ranger, I was just about to call you…" I said, but trailed off when I saw what Ranger was holding. "I think you should see something."

Ranger followed me over to my computer, and I showed him the email. He looked at me with his blank face and held out a pair of rubber gloves.

"We'd like to preserve any prints that may have been left on the box and its contents."

I took the gloves and put them on, then reached for the box, not wanting to know what was inside, yet curious and wanting to know. It was nicely wrapped in black paper, with a silver bow decorating the top. I carefully peeled the paper off and set it aside. The box wasn't very big, maybe four inches all around. I lifted the lid off and gasped in surprise.

"It's my keys," I said, holding them up and frowning at them.

"Are there any missing?" asked Ranger.

I went through all the keys, one at a time. I was pretty sure they were all there, along with the little red Jeep keychain Joe had gotten for me as a joke a few weeks ago. It was one car he said I couldn't possibly blow up.

"Cute keychain," said Ranger. "It reminds me of a certain car you blew up a long time ago."

"It's Joe's idea of a joke," I said, dropping the keys next to my computer. I looked in the box again and found a small piece of folded up paper. I pulled it out and unfolded it to a full sheet of paper with typing on it.

Stephanie,

Your cop boyfriend had something of mine and I think he gave it to you before he dropped dead. He's lucky he did himself in before I got to him, but unfortunately, he didn't leave the whereabouts of the key. I want it returned to me, or I'll have to resort to drastic measures. You wouldn't want me to have to do that, would you?

"Steph, are you sure Joe didn't give you anything?" asked Ranger. He'd been reading over my shoulder.

"Nothing. Joe didn't talk about this case at all."

"I'll get this checked for prints and have them run through the system. Maybe we can find something that way," said Ranger, putting everything back in the box. "I'll have the keys returned to you when we're done with them."

I turned and flopped down on the couch, curling up in the corner of it. I yanked the gloves off and threw them on the floor.

"I don't know anything. He didn't tell me _anything_ at all. I have no idea why whoever this is is after me." I sighed and leaned my head back on the couch. I hadn't done anything this time. I wasn't even involved in the case and yet trouble still seemed to find me.

"Why me?" I asked and laughed humorlessly. I could remember my mom saying that every time I'd managed to screw up again and then she'd mention anyone's daughter she could think of that wouldn't do what I had managed to do.

"Are you okay?" asked Ranger.

"I'm fine," I said tonelessly. I wished people would stop asking that. My answer wasn't going to change, even if they asked me a hundred times. I just didn't care anymore.

"I don't believe you, Steph. If you were fine, I wouldn't have just had to bring you back from the hospital because you were dehydrated and sick from not eating for three days. You wouldn't spend most of the time sleeping or just laying on a bed or couch or whatever. If you were fine, you'd make an effort to realize that you're _alive_. You're still alive and you need to be living your life, not walking around like an empty shell like you've been doing," said Ranger, his voice quiet and scary. "I'm not going to let you do that. Morelli wouldn't want you to and I'm going to make you see that."

I kept staring at the fabric of the couch, but I knew Ranger was right. I just couldn't find the strength to move. I curled up tighter on the couch and closed my eyes tightly, pretending not to hear him. If I wasn't listening, then it wasn't true.

I heard Ranger sigh, then before I knew it, I was in the air. Ranger had picked me up and was heading somewhere. He set me down on a cold, hard surface and I opened my eyes curiously. I was in the bathroom. More specifically, in the bathtub.

"What the _fuck_?" I sputtered out as cold water began to rain down upon me. "What are you doing?"

"You won't listen to me, so I'm showing you," said Ranger.

I started to escape the cold water, but Ranger pushed me back down.

"Leave me alone," I growled.

"No."

"Leave me alone!" I shoved back at Ranger, slipped, and slammed my elbow on the side of the bathtub. I saw stars momentarily as I scrunched my eyes shut in pain. "Fuck," I hissed, dropping back down, clutching my elbow. I was only down for what felt like a second, then I jumped back up and swung at Ranger. I made contact and tripped over the edge of the bathtub, sending Ranger backwards as he tried to keep both of us upright. I pushed off of him and kept hitting him. I could feel tears running down my face as I swung wildly at Ranger. I hated him for forcing me to keep living in reality and not letting me go off into my dream world where Joe was still alive and everything was perfect.

It wasn't long before I dropped down to the floor, sobbing and soaking wet. Ranger sat beside me with an arm around my shoulders.

"It'll be okay, Steph."


	6. Chapter 6

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Please remember to review, they keep me writing! :)

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 6_

After a while of me trying to compose myself, Ranger got up and wrapped a large fluffy towel around my shoulders.

"How about you go get dressed, and I'll have Ella bring something down for you to eat?" said Ranger.

"Okay."

I waited to get up until Ranger had vanished. I used the corner of the sink to pull myself up. When I looked in the mirror, I grimaced. My hair was a tangled mess of curls. My face was blotchy and my eyes red and puffy from crying. I looked like a wreck. I half-heartedly dragged my fingers through my tangled curls, then gave up in favor of putting on dry clothes.

I opted for another pair of black sweats with a navy blue t-shirt. I didn't bother with makeup, but I managed to tame my hair enough for a ponytail. By the time I had finished with my hair, Ranger was back and was setting a tray on the small table in the kitchenette. I sat in the of the chairs and Ranger set a bowl of soup and a small plate of crackers in front of me. I grimaced as the smell drifted up to my nose.

"Eat, Stephanie," said Ranger, spearing a leaf of lettuce with his fork.

I picked up a couple of crackers and broke them into little pieces over the soup. I swirled the cracker bits around the soup with my spoon and then I choked down a spoonful of the soup. I kept eating, not wanting the soup, but knowing Ranger would probably find some way of force feeding me.

"You could have brought some Taskykakes," I grumbled.

"Those aren't going to do you any good right now, unless you'd like to throw them right back up. I did bring some cut fruit, though," said Ranger, revealing two small bowls of cut up mixed fruit.

I stabbed at my fruit with my fork, until I caught Ranger watching me and ate a bite of watermelon. I'd rather have my fruit in the center of a doughnut or in a cake or pie. I only had a few more pieces before I gave up on the fruit. I pushed it back to the center of the table.

"I took the box upstairs while I was up there. They may have the preliminary searches done by now. I also had Hal share the evidence with the officer who took over Morelli's case, Officer Joel Branson. I'm having a search run on him right now. I've never heard of him before, so it's safer to check him out first. The email you got is also being checked out, but whoever it is probably covered their tracks well," said Ranger. "You can come upstairs and see what's happening if you want to."

"I guess I could come up," I said, then had a thought. "Am I still going to be able to track down FTAs? I need my job. I have bills to pay."

"I can have a bodyguard assigned to you," said Ranger. "as long as you'll be careful and carry a gun."

I almost laughed. Ranger knew perfectly well what happened when I chased skips. I usually ended up rolling in garbage or handcuffed to things or whatever else they thought of to torture me with. I did have a bunch of FTAs I was supposed to have brought in, and who knows how many more had gone FTA since Joe had died. Vinnie was probably pissed that I hadn't shown up for work in who knows how long.

"Fine," I said, "but I don't have my gun. I left it in the cookie jar in my apartment."

"No, it's in your purse," said Ranger.

I rolled my eyes. Of course Ranger would make sure my gun was removed from the cookie jar. I bet it was fully loaded now too.

"I don't expect it to stay in your purse, though."

"Okay."

Ranger got the leash from the doorway and handed it to me.

"Come on Bob, we're going for another walk," I said, clipping it to Bob' collar and following Ranger out.

In the control room, there was nothing new to report. There had been no fingerprints on anything from the gift box, only mine on the keys. The email sender's tracks had been carefully covered. Officer Branson had a perfect record. He was new to Trenton, but he didn't look suspicious at all. Pretty soon, I began to get bored and tired. It wasn't that late, only around ten, but there wasn't anything to do and sleeping would kill time, so I went back to my apartment.

As tired as I had thought I was, I spent a lot of time rolling around until I finally drifted off to sleep what seemed like hours later.

In the morning, I found a covered tray on my table and a folded piece of paper.

I brought you breakfast. Tank will be watching you today. He'll be in the control room when you want to leave.

Ranger had snuck into the apartment while I was asleep. He would be sneaky like that. I wondered how many bugs he'd left while I was asleep. There were probably enough trackers on me to keep watch over a small army. I didn't think it was necessary. I wasn't going to leave my bodyguard behind, not unless I had a good reason to.

I ate a few bites of the scrambled eggs and half a piece of toast and downed it with orange juice. Then I dressed in all black and headed to the coffee table. The two files I had been working on were sitting on the coffee table next to my shoulder bag. I shoved them in the bag and headed out with Bob on his leash.

Tank was waiting in the elevator when I pushed the button to call it, so there was no trip to the fifth floor. Tank unlocked a black Rangeman SUV, but I hesitated.

"Bob needs to be walked first," I said.

"Okay, we can take him around the corner quick," said Tank, leading the way to the door that led outside. I walked him over to a patch of grass away from the Rangeman building, and when Bob pooped, I looked the other way and dragged Bob away, pretending I wasn't leaving poop on some random patch of grass.

Tank just shook his head and led the way back to the SUV. I let Bob into the passenger seat and climbed up front next to Tank.

"So, where to first?" asked Tank.

"The office. I need to check on the FTAs I already have and see if there's any new ones," I said.

Connie and Lula were both in the office when I arrived and both looked equally shocked when I walked in the door.

"You're back?" said Connie.

"You're alive?" asked Lula.

"Of course I'm still alive. Are there any new FTAs?" I asked, trying to act like this was a normal day, that I hadn't spent the last who knew how long wallowing in self pity and nearly killing myself in the process so that Lula and Connie wouldn't ask questions.

"I have one new one. The ones you have already still need to be found," said Connie. She handed me a folder and I signed the papers that would give me permission to apprehend the FTA.

"Do you need someone to ride along with you?" asked Lula, sounding eager to escape the office already.

"Um… I kind of already have someone…"

"You went and got yourself a new partner?"

"Not exactly. Ranger assigned someone to watch me today," I said, feeling guilty that Lula wouldn't be able to come too.

"Did you bring my honey with you?"

I didn't even have to answer that question. Lula grinned and ran out to the SUV, her lime-green miniskirt threatening to ride up and reveal even more of her behind than was already on display.

I followed her outside, keeping my eyes averted from Lula's behind. I waited a minute before getting in the SUV to give her a chance to talk to Tank. She waved to Tank when I got in and headed back to the office.

I pulled out the first FTA. Kathleen Sampson, age twenty-eight. She'd stolen underwear from Victoria's Secret, claiming there were too many people in the store and she was going to pay for it later. She had no priors. She should be an easy catch.

Tank waited outside the car while I went up to knock on Kathleen's door. She opened the door right away.

"I'm Stephanie Plum, a Bond Enforcement Agent for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. You missed your court date and we'd like you to reschedule," I said.

"I already paid for the underwear. There's no need to go to court," she said and started to shut the door in my face. I shoved my foot in the open doorway, probably gaining a bruise, but stopping the door from closing.

"You still need to reschedule the court date. If you come with me right now, we can get you rebonded right away," I said, still trying to be polite.

"No," said Kathleen and pushed the door harder against my foot. I reached around to the small of my back and pulled out my gun, which I had on me for once, instead of shoved in my purse.

"I think you'd better come with me," I said, holding up the gun. Kathleen disappeared for a minute, then I was looking down the barrel of a gun that was much bigger than mine. And then suddenly, the sunlight behind me was blotted out and I knew Tank was behind me.

"I think you should do what Miss Plum asked you to," said Tank, holding up a pair of handcuffs.

Kathleen complied after that, and we had her to the station and I had my body receipt within ten minutes. I kept my head down while I had delivered her and was waiting for my body receipt. The last thing I wanted was more pity, especially from Joe's fellow officers.

The next skip was Wallace Ford, who had been caught stealing money from his job at the bank. I also found him at home but it took a while longer for him to answer the door.

'Whaddaya want?" he growled.

"I'm a Bond Enforcement Agent for Vincent Plum Bonds. I'd like to take you to reschedule your court date," I said.

"I can't leave Fluffy," he said.

"Fluffy?"

"My dog. He's sick and I can't leave him alone. He needs his medicine every four hours," said Wallace.

"You're not going to be gone for four hours. Fluffy will be fine," I said.

"I'm not leaving Fluffy," he said again.

I sighed. "How about I call someone to watch Fluffy while I take you to reschedule?" I said, offering a compromise.

"I guess that would be okay," he said.

I pulled out my cell phone and called Lula. "I need a favor," I said.

"What do you need me to do?" she asked.

"One of my FTAs won't go with me unless someone watches his sick dog. Can you come watch it while I take him to get rebonded?"

"Sure."

I gave her the address and disconnected.

"My friend will be here in a minute. Are you going to cooperate, or do I need to cuff you?"

"No, I'll cooperate," said Wallace.

As soon as Lula arrived, I had Wallace in the back with Bob and quickly left. I didn't want to leave Lula with some stranger's dog for too long. She'd probably scare it to death, especially if it was already sick.

Wallace was in and out as quickly as Kathleen, and we returned to his house. Lula was out the door before Tank had even shut the engine off.

"That dog gave me the creeps," she said. "It looked like it was half-dead already." She shuddered. "Now, seeing as it's about lunchtime, I think we ought to go get something to eat. I'm thinking some nice Cluck-in-a-Bucket."

I agreed, and soon we were all off to Cluck-in-a-Bucket for lunch.


	7. Chapter 7

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Please remember to review, they keep me writing! :)

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 7_

The third skip, Brian Sanders had gotten drunk and beat the hell out of his wife. However, he was quite happen to go to the station with us. Well, after Tank cuffed and dragged Sanders back to the SUV he was.

I collected the body receipt and then we went back to the office to get my check from Connie. After a trip to the bank as well, I had enough to pay my rent and make a credit card payment, with a bit left over. Connie had had one more skip for me, and I would track him down tomorrow.

There was no new news about Joe's case or whoever had been contacting me and once again, Ranger brought dinner and made sure I ate. I could keep going now, as long as I kept my mind off Joe and on my work and tracking down the idiots that thought I had information about Joe's case.

I fell asleep quickly that night, and it seemed only seconds later that I opened my eyes again. Only, I was back in my apartment and there was a warm body laying next to mine. Confused, I sat up and leaned over the body.

"Joe?" I asked quietly.

"Mmm… Cupcake?" Joe mumbled.

"What are you doing? You're not supposed to be here," I said.

Joe rolled over and looked at me strangely.

"What are you talking about? Are you okay?" he asked.

"You're dead," I said, shaking my head.

"No…" said Joe slowly, and reached out to brush my face with his hand. "I'm alive. You must have been dreaming."

I reached a shaking hand out to touch Joe, but when my fingers touched his skim, he vanished and in the same instant, I woke up.

I sat upright in bed, my heart pounding. I closed my eyes and tried to calm my breathing. It had been a dream. Just a dream. I curled back up on the bed and closed my eyes, but I spent a long time rolling around before falling asleep again.

In the morning, I woke up still tired. After a quick shower and several coats of mascara, I was out the door with Bob. I ignored the breakfast that had been left, but took the note that said that Lester would be accompanying me today. Like the previous day, Lester was waiting in the elevator when I pushed the button. We took Bob around the corner and then took one of the SUVs to the office.

There were no new FTAs, so I read through the file I'd received the day before. Thomas Goldman had been caught carrying concealed. The gun didn't have a registration. Or, at least, they couldn't check if it was registered because all identifying information had been filed off.

The gun information triggered a strange feeling in my stomach. He could have gotten that gun from a lot of places in Trenton, but it just didn't seem right. I filed the information away for later to share with Ranger, and checked out the address he'd listed when Vinnie had bonded him out.

Goldman lived on Ellery, in one of the graffiti-covered apartment buildings. I dropped the file on the floor and jumped out of the SUV. Lester followed me, and we were nearly to the open doorway of the building when shots rang out, seemingly from the direction of the apartment building. I heard a bang and a whooshing sound and turned to see that the SUV had one less tire than it had started out with.

"I'm going to go first and check this out," said Lester, drawing a gun. I let him go ahead. I had no desire to be shot at. He headed for the stairs, looking around carefully. I started to follow, but felt an arm wrap around me and a gloved hand cover my mouth. I didn't even have a chance to scream, only sucked in the taste of rubber glove. I kicked back at my captor, but I felt the buzzing sensation of a stun gun in my side and fell into darkness.

I woke up with my fingers tingling and my hands tied behind my back. I fought my eyes open and found myself sitting on a floor in a room that was sparsely furnished. I twisted around and saw that I was tied to a wooden bedpost. There was a wooden chair in front of me and two doors. One was slightly open and led to a bathroom, the other presumably led out. To where, though, I had no idea.

The only window in the room was blacked out, so there was no hint there. There was nothing in the room that would give me a hint either. I tried to remember if I had had my shoulder bag in my hand when I'd been grabbed, but I couldn't remember. I was fairly certain there was at least one tracker in there. If they'd grabbed my bag as well, then Ranger would be on his way right now to save me. Or Lester had realized immediately that I was gone and had chased them down. He would be outside, waiting on Ranger's instructions. Someone was coming for me, they had to be.

I leaned my head against the bed and waited patiently. I didn't have long to wait, but my visitor wasn't Ranger or one of his men to rescue me. Instead, it was someone dressed in black and with their face covered by a mask. My stomach clenched when I saw that whoever it was had a gun. I watched the person closely, trying to commit any distinguishing details I could to memory. That is, if I got out of here alive. I still had a chance. As long as the person kept their face covered, I might be set free alive.

"Stephanie Plum," he said. "I've been waiting so long to meet you. I believe you have something of mine."

"I don't have anything of yours," I said.

"Oh, but I think you do. Your cop boyfriend was getting just a little bit too close to figuring things out. Lucky for me, he killed himself first. However, I need my key back now and I know he gave it to you."

"The only key Joe gave me was to his house."

"I'm already aware of that, but that is not the key and it's not on your keychain either. You should probably start talking, before my employer gets too… impatient," said the man, sounding menacing.

"If I knew where your stupid key was, I'd give it to you. I don't have it, so let me go!" I yelled.

I heard a nasty cracking sound as the butt of his gun was slammed against my face. Tears welled up in my eyes as I fought not to scream in pain. The man knelt in front of me and I flinched as he brushed his gloved hand against my cheek.

"Now look at that, you made me bruise your pretty little face," said the man and I almost gagged. "Maybe you'll be more talkative in a couple of hours."

He left me alone in the room and I couldn't resist the sob that came out of my mouth, which only meant more pain for me. I had no way of feeling my face, but it was probably already swelling and bruising. I just hoped he hadn't broken any bones.

I pulled at the ropes holding my hands behind my back. They seemed to be tied fairly tight. I shifted so my shoulder was against the frame of the bed, and pushed against it while I pulled as hard as I could. I could feel the old wood give way slightly, but I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get far with my arms tied like that. Maybe I could convince my captor that I was willing to cooperate and use it to escape. I stopped pulling at it and put on a defeated pose, with my knees pulled up and my chin resting on them. It wasn't too hard to look that way, since I had no idea when or if Ranger was going to come rescue me.

I have no idea how long I sat like that, I realized that I had to go to the bathroom and my stomach was starting to protest that I hadn't bothered to eat breakfast. I stared off at the wall opposite me, trying not to think about anything. If I kept thinking, I was going to start freaking out. Freaking out wasn't going to do me any good at this point.

I almost didn't notice when the man returned to the room. I figured it out, though, when I felt ice cold water wash over me. I shook my head and looked up. The man was still wearing his mask. Luckily, I hadn't wet myself when the water had been dumped on me.

I put on my most pitiful looking face and said, "I need to go to the bathroom."

The man sighed and knelt beside me to untie the ropes.

"Don't even think about trying anything," growled the man as he led me to the bathroom.

For a second, I thought he was going to follow me in, but he stopped at the doorway. I immediately shut the door, but there was no lock. I did my business, trying to take as long as possible while checking the room out for any possible escape routes. The tiny bathroom window was way too small for me to even think about fitting through, but it wasn't blacked out. I peered out, but saw nothing but open fields and one house far off in the distance. Maybe there was something on the other side of wherever I was. Maybe…


	8. Chapter 8

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Please remember to review, they keep me writing! :)

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 8_

I wasn't faking looking defeated when I came out of the bathroom. I knew my chances of escape were probably slim. Even if I got out, there wasn't anywhere that I could see to go for help. And Ranger hadn't come to rescue me.

I went back over to the bed and dropped down beside the bedpost without being asked. The man tied me to the bedpost again. The ropes felt a lot looser than they had been the first time, but I wasn't going to test them now, not in front of my captor. It looked like the idea had worked, even if my chances of escape were slim.

"Now, are you going to tell me where the key is or am I going to have to hurt you again?" asked the man.

"I told you, I don't know _anything_ about your stupid key or otherwise," I said and braced myself as the man raised his hand to hit me again.

"Don't hit her again," came another male voice. I looked up to see another man in black and also wearing a mask standing in the doorway. "She doesn't know anything."

"Too bad her cop boyfriend isn't still alive. We could have used her to bargain for the key," said the first man. "But since she's useless, we could, you know, have fun with her before we get rid of her."

I couldn't suppress a shudder at the first man's words.

The second man's sharp, "No," made me relax, though, at least, as much as I could since being kidnapped.

"Then what are we going to do with her?"

"I haven't decided yet," said the second man. "Just leave her here for now while we figure out what to do."

They both left the room and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was safe for the moment.

I pulled at the ropes again, testing them. They were definitely much looser than they had been the first time. Not enough that I could slip right out of them, though, but if I pulled hard enough, the bedpost might come out the rest of the way.

I shifted around so I could plant my feet on the ground and pull. As I raised myself up, though, the ropes slipped upwards with me. I realized that the man had been more careless tying me back up than I'd thought. He'd tied me to the bedpost, but not below the frame that would keep me tied and unable to escape. I stood up the rest of the way and the rope slipped easily off the post. I picked at the ropes and soon had my hands free.

I looked around the room and weighed my options quickly. I was either going to have to break the window and jump or sneak out through the door, wherever that led to. I didn't know how much time I was going to have before the men came back and decided that they wanted to kill me or worse. I could break the window and risk making enough noise to alert the men that I was free or I could take my chances with the door.

I went over to the doorway and carefully opened it to find a hallway. I couldn't hear any voices or anything, so I decided to go with the hallway. I walked as quietly as I could down the hall. I could see stairs off to the right at the end and as I got closer to the stairs, I could hear voices. I got as close as I thought was safe to the opening to the stairs and tried to listen in.

I could hear the two men that had been in the room, but I couldn't tell if there was anyone else and I couldn't understand anything that was being said. I did know that I was going to have to find another way out, hopefully without having to resort to breaking glass, but it was probably going to involve jumping out a window. I carefully backtracked and started going into rooms.

In the second room I looked into, I found a large enough window that I would be able to fit through and it looked like I could open it. I shut the door behind me and went to the window. I could see some a cluster of trees not too far away. If I got out and ran fast, I could hide there until I figured out what to do and hopefully before they noticed I had escaped.

I carefully unlocked the window and started pushing it upwards. It gave a loud squeak and I jumped. After a moment, I kept sliding it up. When it was opened enough for me to fit through, I stuck my head out.

My stomach clenched at the sight. I was probably only one story up, but the ground looked a lot farther away than it should. I was going to have to jump anyways. It was my only means of escape right now.

I levered myself farther out the window, trying not to think about what I was about to do. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Then I let go.

Unfortunately, my foot caught on the windowsill and I could feel it twisting as gravity fought against it. I used my arm to brace against the wall and keep my face from hitting. I grimaced as the siding scraped my arm. I used the house as a brace and wiggled my foot, but I couldn't get free. I yanked hard, using the house to help me put all my weight into it and I fell onto the ground with an "Oomph."

It took me a minute to get my breath back and when I did, I rolled over onto my back and stifled a groan. I looked up to the window I'd jumped out of and gasped. One of the men was looking out the window. Fuck.

I crawled to my feet to run, but the foot that had been hooked in the window didn't want to move properly. I tried to put as little weight as possible on it and hobbled a few steps, but froze when I saw a figure in black moving in the trees. I turned back towards the house and saw one of the men coming out the front door and heading towards me. There was another figure in black creeping around the back.

My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to figure out what to do. And then the figure in the woods came closer and I saw that it was Tank.

"Tank!" I yelled. There was no way I was going to be able to run. My foot could barely hold my weight.

The man was nearly to me and with horror, I saw him pull out a gun. I ignored the pain in my foot and dove to tackle him at the same instant as I heard gunshots and then my world went black.

_alwayscupcake_: Tank hiding in the woods is for you. He didn't exactly save her, but it wasn't Ranger, lol Thanks for reviewing!


	9. Chapter 9

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Thanks to and alwayscupcake for reviewing! Please remember to review, they keep me writing! :)

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 9_

"Steph?"

I heard my name, but it sounded like it was coming from far away.

"Come on, wake up," said the voice.

I groaned and opened my eyes slightly. I hurt all over and my chest felt wet and sticky. I swore for a second I saw Joe's face hovering before mine, looking scared.

"Joe?" I croaked out, but he was gone and replaced by Ranger's face.

"Steph, you're going to be okay. Just hang on, okay?"

I started to reply, but I couldn't move my lips and it felt like my eyes were closing by themselves.

When I woke up again, I still hurt, but the sticky sensation was gone, though replaced with the feeling of things attached to me. There was something stuck on my face and I realized that there was something down my throat and it _hurt. _I tried to cough, and when that failed, tried to pull away from it, but I couldn't move my head. My hands refused to move as well. I was starting to panic, but I couldn't control my breathing. I couldn't control anything.

I opened my eyes and stared wide-eyed up at Ranger.

"Babe," he said quietly and turned away for a minute. Seconds later, a nurse was by my side.

"Relax, Miss Plum. We've got you on a ventilator to help you breathe. As soon as we're sure you can breathe on your own, we'll take it out. Do you understand?" she asked.

I could still blink, so I did that and she nodded.

"I'm going to switch the machine so you can breathe more on your own," she said and fiddled with the machine for a minute. I could immediately feel the difference and took a breath on my own.

"Does that feel okay?" she asked and I blinked again. "Good, now I'm going to give you something to keep you relaxed and help you sleep."

A shot of something in my upper arm, and I could feel my body relaxing. I wanted to ask why I needed to sleep, when I'd only just woken up, but I couldn't speak.

"This will be more of a natural sleep, and it will help you get better faster," she said, and after one last check over the machines in the room, she left.

I looked over at Ranger again. His usually emotionless face looked worried. I wanted to tell him I was fine, that I hurt a lot, but that was just from my jump out the window. I hadn't been seriously hurt, as far as I knew. Maybe twisted my ankle getting stuck on the windowsill, but that was it.

I needed to ask Ranger what had happened, what was going on with the investigation, but I would have to wait until they took the tube out and right now, sleep was calling me.

When I woke up again, I was able to move, but the tube was still in my throat, although it was easier to breathe than before. Ranger wasn't there, but Tank was.

"I'm sorry, Steph," said Tank. "We were supposed to keep you safe."

I couldn't figure out how to let Tank know it was okay with my limited movement, so I gave him a small shrug.

He nodded and said, "I think they're going to take that tube out soon, but they'll probably keep you strapped down a while longer. You move too much while you're asleep and you probably wouldn't want to rip your stitches."

I frowned and looked questioningly at Tank. I couldn't remember… and then I suddenly recalled jumping at the man that had pulled a gun to keep him from shooting Tank. He must have shot me instead. My eyes widened in horror.

"You got pretty damn lucky he missed anything really important. Of course, you moved so fast I don't think he could aim for anything in particular. One minute, you were limping and the next you were both down on the ground. I've never seen anything like it. You've got guts, Steph," said Tank.

It was the most I'd ever heard him say. I tried to smile at him around the tube and I think he understood, because he reached out and squeezed my hand.

"Ranger will be back soon. He had to go talk to someone. It was real important, because the person wasn't taking no for an answer," said Tank, and then just as quickly as he'd started talking, he stopped, almost like he had said something he should have. And just as quickly as I'd come up with it, I shrugged off the idea. Tank never said anything he didn't mean to say.

I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling. There wasn't much else to do. There wasn't even a TV in the room. I would have sighed, had I been able to.

Entertainment finally came in the form of a nurse, a different one than the one from the last time I'd woken up. And to my happiness, she'd come to free me from the ventilator. The nurse sprayed my throat with some weird stuff that she said would make it easier to take the tube out. She gently pulled it out, but I started gagging and coughing. She held out a glass of water with a straw in it and I immediately took a sip. The cool water felt good on my throat, which felt like something had been in there scratching at it. She then set the water aside and covered my nose and mouth with a mask. She checked on some of the machines and then removed the mask.

"Keep drinking plenty of fluids, it will help your throat," said the nurse. "If you have any problems or need something, you can push the call button or send one of the… bodyguards."

I nodded in answer and she left, immediately followed by the entrance of Ranger. Tank stood, giving his seat to Ranger, and immediately left.

"I take it you're feeling better," said Ranger.

I nodded.

"That was a pretty stupid thing you did. You nearly got yourself killed," said Ranger and shook his head. "I don't know how you do it. You stumbled right into one of the key parts of Joe's investigation, without even knowing it. All the weapons we found in that house are missing their serial numbers, but match the descriptions of weapons that have gone missing from police evidence. We have one of the men, but he's not talking… yet. I'm sure he'll change his mind soon."

I had a feeling the man they'd captured wasn't in police custody, and they were using less than legal methods to get him to talk.

And then I had a thought. The weapons that they found were missing serial numbers… like my FTA had been caught with. I remembered the strange feeling I'd had in my stomach right while I'd been reading the information on him. And wasn't it strange that I'd been grabbed right when we were chasing down that particular skip? I had a feeling I'd been set up, and if I hadn't had Lester with me, they might not have found me. I had to tell Ranger, but that was going to be a problem.

I started to reach for the water, but winced in pain. I was going to use my other hand to poke experimentally at my left shoulder, but Ranger stopped me.

"You shouldn't move that arm much, and I wouldn't suggest poking at it either. You got shot there and in your abdomen. You were pretty lucky, getting hit where you'd have the least damage, although you shouldn't have jumped in front of the gunman in the first place. All my men were wearing vests," he said.

I shrugged with my good shoulder. I was only trying to help. Ranger let it go, though, and held out the water. I quickly drank half of it, feeling the cold water soothe my throat. I suspected there was more than water in the cup, because it helped more than I'd expected.

"I think I was set up," I said, my voice sounding raspy and a lot quieter than usual.

"That's a possibility," said Ranger, looking at me with curiosity. "How do you know?"

"The FTA that was supposed to live in that building was arrested for carrying a gun that had its serial number removed, like the weapons you found," I said. Ranger held the cup out again and I had a few more sips of water before continuing. "Someone shot out the tire of the SUV, knowing we would both investigate, but that Lester would go first, so they waited until Lester went first and grabbed me. It had to have been planned."

"You may be right. The evidence is too similar to just be a coincidence," said Ranger.

"It's not a coincidence. Those guys that took me wanted information on Joe's case and they wanted the key," I said.

"I'll have someone look into it," said Ranger. "Now rest your voice."


	10. Chapter 10

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Please remember to review, they keep me writing! :)

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 10_

I actually fell asleep on my own that night, after getting only short naps, interrupted by exactly six visits from nurses and one visit from my doctor. The only visits were the ones that came with food, which was surprisingly decent. Well, a bit more than decent, considering it included jello and macaroni and cheese. The soup I didn't care too much for, but ate, if only to keep Ranger from letting one of the nurses force-feeding me.

I woke up to the soft sound of voices, which I recognized as Ranger and Joe. Wait, that wasn't right. Joe was dead.

"Joe?" I asked softly.

I heard movement and opened my eyes. I could make out a vague form in the shadows.

"Go back to sleep, Steph," he said.

I had to be dreaming of him again. It was so real, though.

"Don't leave me," I said softly, feeling tears prickle at my eyelids.

"Please, Steph. Go back to sleep," he said and I obediently closed my eyes again.

When I woke up again, it was quiet in the room, except for the beeping of machines. The sun was just starting to come into the window, dimly lighting my room. Ranger was still sitting beside my bed, wide awake.

"Don't you ever sleep?" I asked him.

"Not when I'm working," he replied.

And then I remembered the voices I'd heard during the night.

"Were you talking to someone last night? I thought I heard… voices." If I said I thought I'd heard Joe's voice, he'd probably think I was crazy. Either I'd been dreaming or I'd imagined that it had been Joe's voice.

"One of my men was here last night to watch you," he said. "He didn't disturb you, did he?"

"No, I fell right back asleep," I said.

"Good," said Ranger. "I think we can arrange for you to leave here by this afternoon at the latest. I think it would be best if we took you to a safe house for now. We're still missing the other kidnapper, and at least one other person. The guy we have looks to be muscle, but we're pretty sure he's got some information we can use. Until we get him to talk, though, I don't think you're safe."

"Isn't the Rangeman building safe enough?" I asked.

"Yes, but that's where they're going to expect you to go. We want to make sure you're hidden so that they keep their eyes on the building, and maybe they might slip up and we'll be able to catch them," he said.

"If it'll help, then I guess I will," I said. If me staying hidden would be the best way to catch the guys, then I would do it, even though I'd rather be in the middle of things and actually being useful.

I actually didn't have to wait until the afternoon. About an hour after a breakfast of coffee and a piece of toast, the doctor came in to let me know that I was going to be discharged, but that I had to take it easy for the next few weeks. He wrote me a prescription for pain medicine and left the nurse to take care of the rest.

The rest included the removal of the catheter they'd put in while I was still unconscious. Thankfully, Ranger left for that. He came back in ten minutes later, after the nurse had removed my IV and the various other things attached to me. She'd also brought a pair of crutches to make it easier to walk. My ankle was wrapped up, but the doctor didn't want me walking directly on it for a few more days. After one last check to make sure my bandages were secure, she finally left to get the discharge papers and a wheelchair.

It hurt like hell to move, and Ranger ended up helping me get out of the bed and into the chair he had been using. He gave me a duffel bag that looked exactly like the one he'd brought me the last time I was in the hospital and left the room again. This time, he'd brought sweatpants and a button-down shirt, as well as a pair of new sneakers that didn't have laces that I could just shove my feet into.

A few minutes after I'd gotten the shoes on, both the nurse and Ranger came back in. I signed a few papers, then the nurse helped me hobble into the wheelchair.

As soon as we'd left the room, men in black surrounded us. I was startled for a moment, before realizing it was Ranger's men, there to protect me. I saw Tank and Lester among them, but the other three I didn't recognize. There were three Rangeman SUVs parked outside the entrance. Hal was driving the middle one, and that was the one that I was wheeled over to. Ranger opened the door to the backseat, and Tank carefully picked me up and set me on the seat. Ranger set my crutches on the floor and closed the door. He got into the SUV and sat in the front passenger seat and Tank climbed in beside me and behind Ranger.

"We're going to go to the Rangeman building first so you can pick up the things you'll need, and to give some time for a diversion, and then Lester and Tank will take you to the safe house," said Ranger as the SUVs started moving.

"What about Bob and Rex?" I asked.

"Bob is being taken care of. Rex can go with you."

At least I would have one of the pets with me. There was no way I was going to be able to walk Bob while I was still recovering. Rex was easier to take care of.

Once safely inside the Rangeman parking garage, one of the unfamiliar Rangemen opened my door and took my crutches. Tank helped me down from behind and the other Rangeman assisted me with getting situated with my crutches.

I hobbled to the elevator and went up to my apartment with Lester, Ranger, and Tank, trying to keep from wincing in pain. The left crutch was digging into my armpit and putting pressure on the wound in my shoulder. I tried to put as little pressure on the left as I could and put the toes of my right foot down as much as I could without the guys noticing. If they saw that I was struggling, one of them would probably insist on carrying me, which I could do without.

Inside my apartment, Ranger told me to pack enough things for a few days, a week at most and produced a duffel bag and what looked suspiciously like a makeup bag. Leaning against the dresser, I threw some clothes onto the bed and had to stifle a laugh as Lester neatly folded and put the clothes in the larger of the two bags. I took the smaller bag into the bathroom and filled it with my stuff. Lester took the bag from me and picked up the duffel bag, while Tank had Rex's cage. Bob wasn't there, so I couldn't say bye to him. I just hoped this wouldn't have to take longer. Even though I liked the Rangemen, I didn't like leaving Bob with other people.

Lester and Tank left the room and I moved to follow, but Ranger stopped me.

"We're going to take care of this, Babe, I promise," he said.

"I know," I replied and carefully made my way out. As I slowly hobbled after Lester and Tank, I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I stopped and looked, but there was no one there.

"Are you okay?" asked Tank.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I saw something," I said. "It was just my imagination."


	11. Chapter 11

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Please remember to review, they keep me writing! :)

Thanks to u5298 and NittanyGirl for reviewing!

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 11_

I was glad to get back downstairs and into the waiting SUV, so I could put the crutches down and rest my aching body. I found my purse was sitting on the seat beside me, so I dug through it to find some Tylenol that I was pretty sure I'd put in there at some point. I didn't need to find the Tylenol, however, my prescription had been filled and the bottle was in my purse. I choked down a pill without anything to wash it down with and leaned back, waiting for it to take effect.

We were only on the road for about fifteen minutes before I started feeling much better. I didn't usually like taking pills, but whatever was in these ones was really good.

Twenty minutes later, we stopped on a dirt road next to a wooded area. Or, what looked to be one, as Tank held up a little black box and an opening appeared out of nowhere. We were on a short driveway that led to a small, one story house.

Tank and Lester carried everything into the house, while I followed slowly. It still hurt to use them, even though I'd taken the pill, but it wasn't long until I was inside and settled on a squashy couch.

However, it also wasn't long until I was bored. There was a TV with hundreds of channels, but nothing that I wanted to watch.

I leaned back on the pillows that were propping me up on the couch and randomly selected a channel. I stared at the TV, not bothering to actually watch.

"Is there anything to do here?" I asked Tank, who was currently seated on a matching squashy chair and actually looking amused.

"I think there's some board games somewhere," said Lester as he walked over and set a glass of water on the coffee table next to me. "There's not much else. You're looking at the TV, there's a laptop with Internet access, and some DVDs."

I was going to go crazy within the hour.

"How about we find those games and play one?" suggested Tank.

"Sure, why not," I said.

Tank pulled out a game of Monopoly. Great, I thought, the game that never ends.

I was a little wrong on that never ending game thought. Two games and an hour later, I'd gone bankrupt twice. By the third game, I was making up as many rules as I could think of, and I was still losing. They let me get away with buying Free Parking, the Jail, they even let me have an extra hundred dollars every time around Go because I was a girl, and I still ended up losing a third time.

"Are you two cheating?" I asked.

"No, we've just had a lot of practice," said Lester. "If you think you're bored after a couple hours here, imagine spending weeks in this house with nothing but board games and a TV. You have to find something to do, and usually, it's the board games."

"Oh," I replied, setting the board back up for a fourth round. I hoped I wasn't in here long enough to learn how to play board games that well.

"Hold up on the game. I think it's lunchtime," said Tank.

"Don't tell me… you guys know how to cook too?" I asked.

"Well, I expect we'd starve if we didn't," said Lester, standing up and heading through a doorway to what I guessed was the kitchen.

I was learning more about the Rangemen in hours than I'd learned in the years since I'd first met them. However, they weren't exactly culinary geniuses. Lester made grilled cheese and tomato soup from a can, but it was pretty good. I gave Rex a bit of crust and he seemed happy. Life was simple for a hamster. Eat, sleep, play. Too bad my life wasn't like that.

We didn't return to playing Monopoly after lunch. I was tired and ended up curled up on the couch to take a nap.

I dreamed of Joe again. He stood right beside the couch. I stretched my hand out to him, but I couldn't move anything else.

"Joe, please," I said, pleading with my voice for him to come closer. I wanted him to come closer. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to feel his skin against mine.

He stood and watched me for a moment, and then he was gone.

"Don't leave me," I said softly, but he didn't come back.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and curled back into my pillow. I squeezed it tight against my chest and fought to keep myself under control. Joe was dead, and no amount of dreams were going to bring him back.

I heard voices and turned back over to see Tank and Lester just beyond the doorway of the kitchen. I couldn't hear anything they were saying, but they didn't sound happy.

"Tank? Lester?" I said.

They immediately stopped talking and came over to the couch.

"Is something wrong?" asked Tank.

"No, I'm fine. What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing," he said. It sure hadn't sounded like nothing, but I decided to let it go for the moment. I wanted to go back to sleep, and as nice as the couch was, I didn't want to keep sleeping there.

"Where am I sleeping?" I asked.

"Right in there," said Lester, pointing to one of the closed doors off the living room.

"I think I'm going to go back to sleep," I said, picking my crutches up off the floor and carefully getting up. I slowly hobbled over to the door and pushed it open with the tip of my right crutch.

The room was simple, but all I really wanted to see was the bed. I dropped my crutches on the floor and got on the bed, careful of my injuries. I crawled underneath the blankets and curled up, wrapping my arms around an extra pillow.


	12. Chapter 12

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Please remember to review, they keep me writing! :)

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 12_

Now that I was laying in a real bed, I couldn't sleep. Ranger was hiding something from me, I knew it. There was something going on, and I wanted to know what. There was more to me being in this safe house than just keeping me safe.

Maybe Ranger was trying to keep me from some of the information. Maybe there was something they'd found out while they were investigating that would upset me. Whatever it was, it had Lester and Tank talking about it practically right in front of me. They didn't usually slip up on anything, well, except where it came to me, but that was usually more my fault than theirs. They were highly trained.

Something had gotten them talking. Something that I bet I wasn't supposed to know about. Something that was probably going to piss me off when I found out.

I sighed and stared at the wall. I wasn't going to be able to do anything about it now. I could barely walk, even with crutches. There was no way I was going to be able to mastermind an escape to go figure out what was really going on.

I had no clue about the key the nut jobs were after. The only key Joe had ever given me was to his house, and I'd had that for a while now. The only thing he'd given me recently was the keychain. It wasn't exactly the sort of thing I'd have bought for myself, but it was a reminder that it was Joe who'd been the reason I'd gotten into bounty hunting, and if I hadn't had to hunt him down, things would probably be very different right now. I probably wouldn't have gotten back together with him either. The keychain was the last gift he'd gotten me, after I'd accepted his proposal.

I hadn't really wanted to put it on my keys, but he'd said, "Keychains are meant to hold keys," and it had joined the rest of my keys. It was only a matter of time before it got blown up with another one of my cars. Although, currently, I didn't even know where it was. Ranger had had my keys, and I didn't know if he'd put them in my purse or if he still needed them.

Wait… _Keychains are meant to hold keys…_

Where was my purse? I sat up and looked around the room. I didn't see it anywhere.

I got up, wincing, and headed for the door, not even bothering to pick up my crutches. I balanced carefully on the ball of my right foot and limped to the living room.

Tank was on the phone, a serious look on his face and Lester was in one of the armchairs, watching him.

"Lester, where's my purse?" I asked, making my way over to the armchair.

"I put it in your room," he said. "Why?"

"I need it. It's important," I said, turning to go back and search for it.

"You sit down. I'll go get it," said Lester, getting up and going to my room.

I sat down and waited impatiently for Lester to return. He handed me my purse and I promptly dumped it out onto the coffee table. I sifted through the mess and found my keys had been returned to me. I pulled the keychain off from the rest of the keys and keychains and dropped them back into the mess.

I started poking at the keychain. It was made of plastic and was a couple inches long. It was a perfect replica of the Jeep I'd accidentally blown up. As I was feeling the back of it, where the details were exact, right down to the tiny latch to the back of the cargo section, I felt the latch move and the lid sprang open. Then the back dropped down. The cargo section wasn't an exact replica. It was halfway to the height of the seats and protruding from the back was what looked like a USB plug. I tipped the Jeep downwards and a slot came open and a little key fell out.

"Um… you said there was a computer here?" I asked, my voice sounding strange.

"Stephanie, are you okay?" asked Lester.

"I need to see what's on this," I said as I held up the keychain. Lester looked curious as he got up and brought the laptop to me. It was already booted up, so I plugged the keychain in and clicked to open the folder. Inside was a Windows Media Video file labeled _To Steph_ and a folder labeled _Evidence_.

I took a deep breath and clicked on the video. It only took a minute to load and then I had to blink away tears as Joe's face came onto the screen. I clicked play and the image immediately began jumping around, looking like Joe was trying to adjust the camera. It settled down and then Joe looked directly into the camera.

"Hi Cupcake," he said. "If you're watching this, then you've figured out that I had to hide the key to some very important evidence with you. I've been working on an important case, even more so because it involves a Trenton cop, someone that I've been working very hard to find out and catch. He's been stealing evidence and selling it to make extra money on the side. He's got two other people helping him from the outside. A dealer to sell all the stolen evidence to, and an in between man to keep the heat off of the cop.

"I've been watching the go between, because I've got a few men I'm suspicious of, but I can't pin the thefts on one yet, and I found out where the evidence was being stashed before being taken to the dealer. That's how they found out who I am and that I'm investigating them, but I got the key to the storage locker and moved all the evidence to a secure location."

Joe held up a key, the same one that had fallen out of the Jeep.

"This key will open the box I have the evidence in. The washing machine in the basement has a false bottom in it. You might need a screwdriver to pry it apart. It's stuck in there pretty good. I have another copy of it with me, yours is just if something happens to me, so that you can get the evidence out when it's needed. The men involved are going to be looking for the key, that's why I've hidden it in a keychain. They won't think to look there, but you will. But don't go looking for the evidence right away. The cop needs to be found first, because if he can get the evidence back, then he might get away with it.

"However, I've also included copies made of some security tapes that also went missing from the station. They aren't clear enough to make out anyone for sure, but if someone has good enough enhancing software, it might be possible to pick out who the dirty cop is. The tapes were stolen for a reason, so I figured it was best to take them too.

"I really didn't want to have to get you involved in this, but I had no other choice. I trust you, and right now, I can't trust anyone in the Trenton Police Department."

Joe stopped and sighed.

"I'm really sorry, Steph. I didn't mean for things to go this way. Please be careful, I don't want these men to get to you too. I love you."

The screen went black and I couldn't stop the tears from sliding down my face.

Lester reached around and removed the keychain from the computer. He took the key that had fallen on the table as well.

"I'm going to make sure Ranger gets these, okay?" said Lester.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I curled up onto the couch and laid my head on the armrest. I just wanted this to be over. I didn't want to be trapped in this house, because I couldn't even help with the case besides having information that Joe had left for me. I was useless, and yet the nutjobs still were after me.

I felt a blanket being laid on me.

"Thanks," I murmured, not even bothering to lift my head and open my eyes to see who had covered me.

"_You'll be all right, Cupcake."_

I started and realized that I had fallen asleep and had been put back in bed. I could see that it was dark outside my window. I had no idea how long I'd been asleep for. I didn't bother getting up. Tank and Lester were probably sleeping by now and nothing but board games and boredom awaited me in the living room.

I laid there for a while, staring at the ceiling. Even this room was boring. There was a bed, a dresser, a closet, and a little desk. A mirror hung on the door to the hallway and another door probably led to a bathroom.

What the fuck was I going to do until Ranger finally decided it was safe for me to leave? His safe houses were boring, and I doubted I was going to be asked to help with the investigation. They had all the information they needed now, thanks to Joe thinking of everything. He'd had everything covered, except staying alive so that we could actually be together.


	13. Chapter 13

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_Author's Note_: Please remember to review, they keep me writing! :)

Thanks to Susiee, u5298, and alwayscupcake for reviewing!

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 13_

"Steph?" I heard Tank say. It sounded like he was standing right outside my door.

I pulled the blanket over my head and pretended to be asleep, hoping he would go away and leave me alone. I heard the door slide open and tried to keep my breathing steady.

"I know you're not asleep," he said.

I stayed quiet, but I felt the side of the bed dip down.

"You can't hide from everything. Things aren't as bad as they seem."

"So?" I said.

"We're really close to catching those guys. The information Joe left you gave a few more of the clues we needed, enough that we can probably get them soon."

"Solving his case isn't going to bring him back."

That stupid video had brought it all back. He shouldn't have left it to me. If it had been so important, maybe he should have trusted someone else with it, like Ranger. Ranger would have used his vaguely legal methods and would have the case solved, without me having to get shot at, and maybe Joe would still be here.

"Steph," started Tank.

"Just leave me alone," I said, cutting him off. I rolled over so my back was to him. "I'm no use to the case anyways."

"Stephanie, you're very important to the case. You're the one who put the pieces together to figure out that Goldman was part of it."

"I only figured that out after I got caught and shot. I had an idea, but I let it go and went ahead with going after Goldman, and look where that got me. The only reason they wanted me was for the information that I didn't have, because God forbid Joe might actually trust me enough to actually tell me things, not leave them in a video that I might accidentally find. Yeah, I'm real important."

"Well, you did get Goldman assigned as an FTA. Ranger doesn't take skips with that low of a bond. One of the other skip tracers could have been assigned to him and they wouldn't have connected it. We wouldn't have put together any of this otherwise," said Tank.

"Dumb luck," I mumbled.

"Steph, don't be so hard on yourself. Joe believed in you to figure things out, just believe in yourself."

"He believed that I would put the information together, but he didn't trust me enough to actually tell me what was going on." I snorted.

I felt the bed rise up, but the door didn't close, so I could hear Tank's voice out in the living room. At first, I couldn't tell anything that he was saying, and then I could hear him getting louder and angrier sounding.

"You can't do this to her anymore. Do you know how much she's hurting?"

Tank, yelling at Ranger? This was new. I'd never heard him say more than a few words at a time and now he was spouting off pep speeches and yelling at his boss. The entire world must have turned upside down since Joe had died. I pulled the blanket off my head so I could listen in better.

"I know how important this is, but she's important too."

"You need to think about her, not just yourself and this case."

"It's not just about the case."

"Just think about it."

There was silence and I quickly threw the blanket back over my head. I was being childish, but I didn't care.

"Okay, Stephanie, since you don't want to be sociable, I'm just going to have to sit here on the floor and play Checkers all by myself," said Tank and I heard the sound of him dumping the game pieces on the floor and setting up the game.

"Play with Lester," I said.

"Lester won't be back for a while. He has to stay at Rangeman. Ranger needs as many men as possible to work on something."

Now I was curious. Was that something related to the case? It had to be important to pull Lester off of guarding me.

I slowly pulled the blanket off my face and asked, "What something?"

"There's been a big break in a case, and we have a shot at taking them down tonight," said Tank.

"Which case?" I asked.

"Come play with me," said Tank.

"Are you going to answer me if I do?"

"I might."

I sighed and got out of bed. I sat down opposite Tank. He'd let me be the red pieces. I moved a piece forward and looked at him.

"A positive ID was made on the officer who's been stealing evidence. If all goes well, he'll lead us right to Goldman, maybe even to whoever they're selling to," said Tank as he moved one of his pieces.

"How?" I asked, moving another piece.

"We finally got the man we caught to talk. He ratted on the cop and told us when he usually takes the evidence and the meeting point. We've got enough evidence to catch them both tonight."

"And then what?"

"We make sure that there's no one else involved, and then you can get out of this house and go back to skip tracing," said Tank.

We played in silence then, the click of the pieces the only sound in the room. Of course, Tank beat me. Thank God I wasn't going to have to stay much longer in this house. Everyone probably thought I'd died or something by now. It'd been a long time since I'd talked to my family or Lula.

"I'm kind of hungry," I said, as Tank put the game back in its box.

"How about we go see what's edible in the kitchen?" said Tank. He offered a hand to help me up. When I was standing he reached for the crutches, but I shook my head. I could walk just as easily without them.

Tank rifled through the cabinets while I looked through the refrigerator. In the freezer I found microwaveable macaroni and cheese.

"Jackpot," I said, holding up the little packages. "I can cook… as long as it involves a microwave."

Tank actually smiled.

"Macaroni and cheese sounds good to me," he said.

We ate our macaroni at the table without talking. I didn't even know what time it was. Probably some obscene hour of the morning. I put my fork in the sink and threw the container in the garbage.

"I'm going back to bed," I said, and went back to my room without protest from Tank.

I laid back down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I wasn't tired, but I didn't want to keep sitting out there, waiting to hear what was going on. It wasn't like they were going to go to any great lengths to keep me informed. Tank probably wouldn't have told me if I hadn't asked.

I would just have to wait this out until it was safe for me to go out again.


	14. Chapter 14

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_**Author's Note**_: I'm sorry about how long it's been since I've updated. I just started a new job three weeks ago and in between moving in and getting reacquainted with the friends I have at this job and the insane hours, I've had barely enough time to sleep, let alone write. This is just a short one, but I have some really good parts coming up soon. I can't promise a regular schedule of updating, but I will try and keep posting as much as I can. Thanks for sticking with me!!

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 14_

Eventually I did drift off to sleep, as wake as I'd thought I'd been. It must have been the macaroni and cheese.

I found that my purse had been returned to my room and was sitting on the desk that was along one wall and the bottle with my pills was sitting beside it. I picked up the bottle and choked down a couple of the pills, then looked around for my duffel bag.

It was sitting on the floor in front of the closet and I pulled a t-shirt, sweatpants, and clean underwear out of it. I wanted a nice long bath, but the doctor had said to keep the wrapping on my ankle dry for several days. I felt incredibly gross, having not showered or bathed for who knew how long, but I was going to have to wait. At least I had clean clothes to wear.

My ankle was feeling okay, but my shoulder was still aching, so I decided against using the crutches and limped out to the living room.

Tank was sitting in one of the armchairs, his cell phone at his ear and the laptop sitting on his lap. He had the phone tucked up to his ear with his shoulder and he was typing away at the computer. It looked important, so I wandered over to the kitchen to find food.

Surprisingly, I found Tastykakes sitting on the counter. Those definitely hadn't been there earlier. They must have been in one of the cupboards. I grabbed one and went back to the living room, where Tank was still on his phone.

I sat down on the couch and picked up the remote off the coffee table. I started flipping through the channels with the volume turned down so it wouldn't disturb Tank's conversation. Or non-conversation. He wasn't saying much, just listening and typing away.

I stopped on a random movie and bit into my Tastykake. I watched as a woman threw baseballs alternating with clips of a pitcher in a baseball game. It was slightly intriguing, not that there was much else on, unless I wanted to flip through all several hundred channels.

The movie failed to interest me since I'd started watching so late into it, so I went for another Tastykake, grabbing one for Tank as well. I set it on the arm of the chair he was sitting on and saw him nod in acknowledgement.

I wondered what he was working on already. The takedown wasn't going to happen until that night, unless something had changed.

When Tank finally put down his cell phone, I immediately asked, "What's going on?"

"Nothing yet. It's still too early for anything to happen. I was just helping make some final arrangements," said Tank.

"Arrangements?"

"Yeah. We need to have access into the security cameras so that we can make an ID on the cop. We won't be able to catch him without clear proof that he's the one stealing evidence and we have to coordinate all the teams for tonight. Ranger has this computer tied into the one at Rangeman, so I can check in on everything. I can't do much, but I can help out where I can," he said.

There was a lot more involved in this than I thought. My takedowns weren't nearly this complicated. Of course, I'd only ever had to bring in one cop, and he was innocent, although Joe had made it as hard as possible to bring him in.

"Sounds like a lot of work," I said.

"It is. He's a cop, so if we don't get this exactly right, then he could get off completely," said Tank.

"Yeah, I know," I said. I definitely didn't want him getting away with it. I wanted out of this house as soon as possible. Even rolling in garbage and having cars blown up again would be more fun than sitting in this house, not able to leave it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_**Author's Note**_: Once again, I'm sorry about how long it's been since I've updated. Work has been kicking my butt, and most days, all I have time for is sleep and work and nothing else. I'm going to try and keep the rest of the chapters coming since the summer and work are almost over. Enjoy the update!

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 15_

The day passed by slowly, with Tank periodically taking phone calls and working on his laptop. I spent most of the time watching random movies and eating Tastykakes.

Somewhere around nine, I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up to the sound of Tank talking on the phone. My neck ached from the awkward position I'd been in. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and yawned. Tank was typing furiously on his laptop while talking. I thought it was best not to interrupt him and wandered to the kitchen to find food.

I was too lazy to hunt down anything that was actually edible, so I grabbed a few of the remaining Tastykakes and a glass of water and sat down at the table. I munched away and wondered what was going on. It was now a little past eleven, according to a small clock on the wall. I must have missed all the action, or maybe not, judging by Tank's phone call and laptop usage.

I went back to the living room with my last Tastykake and ignored the TV in favor of watching Tank and trying to figure out what was going on. I didn't learn much, though. Just as I sat down, Tank flipped both the phone and his laptop closed in one quick movement.

"Go gather your things. We're going to go back to Rangeman," said Tank.

"Okay," I said. Great, I was going to get out of this house. Rangeman wasn't much better, but at least it wasn't isolated from everyone.

I quickly stuffed the few dirty clothes that I'd left on the floor into the larger duffel bag and got my purse and the small bag. I organized them into one hand and then picked up my crutches and dragged them along behind me as I went back to the living room.

Tank quickly relieved me of the bags and added them to the laptop bag he was carrying. I followed him outside and to the black SUV that was sitting in the driveway. I got into the passenger seat while Tank stowed the bags in the backseat and then got into the driver's seat.

The drive back to Rangeman was quiet. Tank was absorbed in his driving and who knew what else. He was probably thinking about the mission or something with Rangeman.

It would be nice if he would talk and tell me how it had gone or if it was still going on or what, but I doubted he would talk anyways, so I stayed quiet as well.

When we arrived at Rangeman, Tank left the bags in the car, telling me that someone would come down and take care of them and we went straight up to the fifth floor.

The fifth floor was buzzing with activity when we stepped out of the elevator doors. A group of men in black, including Ranger, were surrounded a table that had a map of Trenton spread out over it. Another group was by the bank of computers, watching the screens carefully and taking notes.

Someone wearing a hooded black sweatshirt quickly got up and went through a side door. It seemed odd, since I'd only ever seen Rangemen wear windbreakers and light jackets. Never an actual sweatshirt. Maybe he was new?

"Who was that?" I asked Tank, pointing to the door that had just closed.

"Who?" asked Tank.

"The guy with the sweatshirt," I said. Was Tank playing dumb or something? I knew he'd seen the person.

"Oh, him. He's just someone we pulled in to help us with the investigation. He knows a few things that we don't, and it was helpful," said Tank.

"Oh," I said, not entirely satisfied with the explanation, but I would let it go for now.

"How did tonight go? Or has it not happened yet?" I asked.

"It's partly happened," said Tank. "We've got his go-between, also known as your FTA, Thomas Goldman and we have some men interrogating him. The cop is going to be a little more difficult, but we're reviewing security tapes from the police station and having the cop followed. He doesn't know it, but the money he stole is marked and we'll be able to trace the purchases he makes with it. It's the easiest way to catch him. With that proof plus Goldman's testimony, we've got him pinned."

"And then I can go back to my apartment?"

"Probably, but with a bodyguard. We don't know how many contacts he has. You should be safe because you can't ID any of them, but we'd rather be sure," said Ranger.

I hadn't noticed him come up beside me. Usually my Ranger senses would let me know he'd snuck up on me yet again, but there were more important things to worry about. Like making sure these guys were caught so I could go home to my real apartment.

"You could go back as early as tomorrow, but more likely within the next couple days, just to be safe" said Ranger. "You can go to your apartment if you'd like. Ella brought your bags up. Bob's being taken care of. I'll have him brought back tomorrow morning," said Ranger.

"Okay," I said, and headed to the elevator.

Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed movement from where Ranger and Tank were still standing. The guy in the sweatshirt was back. The hood was up so I couldn't completely see his face, but he looked vaguely familiar. I thought it was odd that he'd vanished when I'd arrived, but was back now that I was leaving. The elevator arrived just then, and I didn't want to be caught staring, so I got in and headed down to the apartment floor.

Rex was spinning on his wheel when I entered my apartment. I went over to the kitchen to find him something to eat, but someone had already given him a carrot and a couple of hamster nuggets. It must have been Ella. I couldn't see Ranger or any of the merry men feeding my hamster. However, my apartment smelled kind of strange. Like a man had been in there. Maybe Ranger had ordered one of his men to feed Rex. That was a funny thought.

The smaller bag I'd had was sitting on my dresser, with a note pinned to it saying that my clothes were being washed and would be returned in the morning. I got a long t-shirt out of my dresser to sleep in and changed. I was sure I was pretty gross by then, but I wasn't supposed to get my bandages wet. It wasn't like I was doing much anyways, so it would be okay until I got the okay to shower. I could just put on a lot of perfume to compensate if I had to.

I got into bed and curled up even though I wasn't very tired. I was too curious about what was going on upstairs and about who the sweatshirt man was. It was strange that they wouldn't tell me who he was. And he seemed so familiar. It was weird. Maybe I'd find out in the morning.

I finally managed to fall asleep, after tossing and turning for what seemed like hours. When I woke up, I felt like I'd never gone to sleep.

I rubbed at my eyes and yawned loudly, contemplating going back to sleep. I was just laying back down when I heard a coughing sound. I opened my eyes to see Ranger leaning against my dresser. I rolled over so my back was to him and pulled the blankets over my head.

"I thought you might like to hear the news right away," said Ranger.

That got me up.

I sat upright quickly and asked, "What news?"

"Officer Branson is now in jail, along with his accomplices. His little theft ring has ended and so has his career. We got enough evidence last night to keep him in jail, and he won't be getting out," said Ranger.

"That's great news," I mumbled. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"It's already seven in the morning," said Ranger.

"Yeah, way too early to be up," I said, burrowing back under the blankets.

"You can go back to sleep, but we have somewhere important to be at eleven, so be up and ready by 10:30," said Ranger.

"Uh-huh," I mumbled and closed my eyes. I was asleep almost instantly.

I awoke to the feeling of being shaken.

"Get up. We're going to be late," came the sound of Ranger's voice.

"Don't wanna," I mumbled.

The shaking stopped, but seconds later, I felt freezing cold as water was dumped onto me.

"Ranger!" I spluttered, jumping out of bed.

"We're going to be late. Get dressed," said Ranger.


	16. Chapter 16

**Plum Danger**

_Summary_: Stephanie's just lost the most important person in her life and a new terror has entered it. Can she solve the case and save herself from the danger or will Stephanie's bounty hunting days be over?

_**Author's Note**_: Once again, I'm sorry about how long it's been since I've updated. Work has been kicking my butt, and most days, all I have time for is sleep and work and nothing else. I'm going to try and keep chapters coming since the summer and work are almost over. Enjoy the update!

_Disclaimer_: All characters in this story were created by Janet Evanovich, save for the ones I've created for purposes of my storyline.

_Chapter 16_

I dried off in the bathroom and put on clean clothes, then went out to find Ranger waiting impatiently.

"Sorry, I was tired," I said, yawning.

"It's all right. We can be a few minutes late," said Ranger.

We went downstairs and got into Ranger's black Cayenne.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see."

We pulled out of the parking garage and followed a route I knew all too well. He couldn't be taking me to Joe's house, could he? My thought was proved true when we pulled up in front of Joe's house.

Strangely, Joe's SUV was parked in front of Joe's house as well.

"I thought that was wrecked?" I asked, confused.

"It was repaired," said Ranger, getting out and heading towards the house.

"Why are we here? I don't want to be here," I said, getting out of the car, but not moving towards the house.

"You'll see," said Ranger.

"Fine," I said, and walked towards the house as slowly as I could. Ranger opened the door and walked right in, without knocking or using a key. I frowned and followed him in. He stepped aside when we'd both entered and motioned for me to go into the living room.

My jaw dropped when I walked into the living room of Joe's house. He was there, sitting on the couch as though he'd never left, although the several day old beard and rumpled clothes gave it away. I stepped backwards, running straight into Ranger.

"It--It's not real. He's not really there. It's not possible," I stammered, shaking my head, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

"He's really there, Stephanie," said Ranger quietly.

Joe got up and moved towards me. "Steph, I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen, but I had to."

I shook my head and pressed back into Ranger.

"No, you're not real. I'm dreaming again."

Black spots were dancing across my vision. Good, I'd pass out and when I woke up, this would have been just another one of the dreams. It was just my mind tormenting me with what I could never have again.

"Steph--"

The next thing I knew, I was laying on the couch, with my hand being tightly squeezed. I opened my eyes and looked right into Joe's eyes.

"You're really alive?" I asked tentatively.

Joe nodded, and that's when I got mad. I sat up and tore my hand out of his, then I slapped him across his face.

"How could you do that to me?" I yelled, hitting him again. "How could you just leave me and pretend to be dead? You could have told me! Maybe then I wouldn't have--"

"I'm sorry, Cupcake. I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I couldn't risk it," said Joe quietly. "I needed to catch the guys, and it was the only way I could do it without my life being in danger."

But I remembered the time I swore I'd heard his voice in the hospital and when I caught a glimpse of movement when I was leaving Rangeman. And the strangely familiar man in sweats that no one would tell me the identity of.

"Were you there, in the hospital? And at Rangeman?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes," said Joe and hung his head.

And then I could feel my Italian temper taking over.

"You just fucking proposed to me and you couldn't trust me to keep that secret? You didn't think I'd understand that you had to go into hiding to solve an important case? No, you leave me all alone and with my own life in danger. I was almost killed because of your stupid case! For once, I didn't put myself in danger, you did. And then you snuck around and watched me."

"It needed to seem realistic…" Joe started, but trailed off. I could tell he even knew that sounded stupid.

I threw up my hands. "Whatever, I'm leaving," I said, and stormed out.

Too late, I realized I'd left without my purse, which contained my apartment keys and cell phone.

"Fuck."

I'd just walk to my parents house then. I didn't even get to the end of the block however, before Joe had caught up with me.

"Please come back to the house, Steph," he pleaded. "I just want a chance to explain. I don't want you to hate me. I love you."

"Okay," I said.

When we got back to the house, Ranger's Cayenne was gone. Joe and I settled on his couch and he tentatively reached out to hug me. I let him hug me, feeling my anger start to melt away.

"I really am sorry," whispered Joe as he sat back and looked me in the eyes.

"I know."

"If I hadn't faked my death, there's a good chance I would have been murdered," said Joe.

I knew that too. Those men had nearly killed me. I'd been shot without a second thought, who knew what they would have done to Joe, since he'd been hiding the information that would convict them.

"I never meant for you to have to be involved and I never meant--" Joe stopped and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "I was so worried that you weren't going to make it, that my stupidity had gotten you killed."

Tears pricked at my eyelids and I swallowed hard. "I'm safe now, though, and those guys are in jail and aren't going to leave anytime soon," I said.

"I'll never hurt you like that again, I swear," said Joe. "No more secrets."


End file.
